We banded 5,083 new birds and had 1,334 recaptures of 80 different species. The most commonly banded species were Common Yellowthroats (1,217), Gray Catbirds (1,046), and Yellow-rumped Warblers (843). Those three species combined made up 61% of all the birds banded this season!
We banded 6 species never before banded at KIBS: Cooper's Hawk, Clapper Rail, Eastern Screech-Owl, Sedge Wren, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
We increased our effort from 9,584.2 net-hours in 2013 to 11,565.5 net-hours this year. This increase was mainly due to the addition of 3 new nets along the dunes and that we banded on 5 more days than last year.
We also had a bunch of recaptures from birds that were banded in previous seasons. It will take a while to sort through all those records to determine how many unique returns we actually had as some of those were undoubtedly captured more than once during the fall.
We banded 554 more birds this fall compared to last year but the capture rate decrease by 3.4 birds/100 net-hours. This decrease is due to the increased effort recorded this year. Interestingly but not surprising, the capture rate of recaptures remained about the same (11.5 birds/100 net-hours in 2014 and 11.9 birds/100 net-hours in 2013).
There were no rarities banded this year - so breaks the 3 year streak of Bell's Vireos. Other notable species absent this year included Baltimore Oriole, American Goldfinch, Swainson's Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Canada Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Least Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and Eastern Kingbird
The following is a photographic recap of the some of the highlights from this season:
 |
| Yellow-throated Warbler |
 |
| Clapper Rail |
 |
| Eastern Whip-poor-will |
 |
| Grasshopper Sparrow |
 |
| Sedge Wren |
 |
| Eastern Screech-Owl |
 |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
2014 FALL SEASON TOTALS
*Numbers in parentheses indicate the # of recaptures
HAWKS
Sharp-shinned Hawk 9 (4)
Cooper's Hawk 1
DOVES
Mourning Dove 3
Common Ground-Dove 14 (11)
CUCKOOS
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 11
OWLS
Eastern Screech-Owl 1 (2)
NIGHTJARS
Eastern Whip-poor-will 1
WOODPECKERS
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 6
Downy Woodpecker 7 (10)
FLYCATCHERS
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Acadian Flycatcher 1
Alder Flycatcher 3
Willow Flycatcher 5
"Traill's" Flycatcher 15 (2)
Eastern Phoebe 26 (1)
Ash-throated Flycatcher 1 (1)
Great Crested Flycatcher 3
VIREOS
White-eyed Vireo 63 (51)
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 185 (28)
CORVIDS
Blue Jay 2 (3)
SWALLOWS
Tree Swallow 31
CHICKADEES, NUTHATCHES, and CREEPERS
Carolina Chickadee 12 (38)
Tufted Titmouse 3 (5)
Brown Creeper 2 (1)
WRENS
House Wren 46 (26)
Sedge Wren 1
Carolina Wren 11 (28)
KINGLETS and GNATCATCHERS
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 7
Golden-crowned Kinglet 7
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 80 (17)
THRUSHES
Veery 9
Gray-cheeked Thrush 7
Swainson's Thrush 26 (1)
Hermit Thrush 56 (22)
Wood Thrush 6
American Robin 1
MIMIDS
Gray Catbird 1,046 (478)
Brown Thrasher 13 (5)
Northern Mockingbird 13(20)
WOOD WARBLERS
Ovenbird 39 (15)
Worm-eating Warbler 8
Louisiana Waterthrush 1
Northern Waterthrush 94 (4)
Black-and-White Warbler 33 (13)
Prothonotary Warbler 5 (2)
Tennessee Warbler 7 (1)
Orange-crowned Warbler 7
Nashville Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 1,217 (86)
Hooded Warbler 4
American Redstart 182 (18)
Cape May Warbler 9
Northern Parula 19
Magnolia Warbler 9
Yellow Warbler 28
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2 (1)
Blackpoll Warbler 3
Black-throated Blue Warbler 67 (2)
Palm Warbler 95 (1) - "Western" 92 (1), "Yellow" 3
Pine Warbler 2 (1)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 843 (103)
Yellow-throated Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 188 (15)
Yellow-breasted Chat 3 (2)
SPARROWS
Eastern Towhee 8 (11)
Chipping Sparrow 1
Grasshopper Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 32 (14)
Swamp Sparrow 79 (35)
White-throated Sparrow 10 (5)
White-crowned Sparrow 1
CARDINALS and BUNTINGS
Summer Tanager 4
Scarlet Tanager 6
Northern Cardinal 57 (113)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Blue Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 64 (3)
Painted Bunting 210 (136)
FINCHES
House Finch 3
BANDING STATS
# of Birds Banded: 5,083
#of Recaptures: 1,334
# of Species: 80
Effort: 11,565.6 net-hours
Capture Rate: 55.4 birds/100 net-hours
# of Days Banded: 103
I would like to thank all those that made this season such a great success: the banding assistants (Mattie VandenBoom, Libby Natola, Matt Zak, and William Oakley); the Kiawah Island Conservancy for providing funding for the hiring and housing of 3 banding assistants; the Town of Kiawah Island for allowing me to take on an extremely time consuming project, and the funding for one banding assistant; Kiawah Partners for allowing access to their property; and finally to all the volunteers that donated their time to either come out and help or just to observe.
